A Quick Look Ahead to Tonight's Caps - Rangers Matchup

VS.

Tonight's game between the Caps and Rangers could have a fair amount of significance. The Capitals have a chance to make a clear statement that they are indeed now among the top tier teams in the League by beating the now Eastern Conference 4th place New York Rangers. The Eastern Conference rival Rangers, need to win to possibly regain the lead in the Atlantic Division from the Philadelphia Flyers (who have a game in hand on both the Rangers and Caps and are tied in points with the Rangers @ 49.) The Caps come into the game surging and with a 9-1-0 record in their last ten games. The Rangers come into the game, well ..., backsliding and with a record of 5-4-1 in their last 10 games including going 1-1-1 during their last three games which were at Madison Square Garden. Per the Ranger's official website, they are looking to extract some payback from the Caps, who last beat them in overtime at MSG on December 23rd 5-4 in a game that saw the Caps come back from a 3-0 first period deficit. That should be interesting, as the Capitals, who are 16-1-1 at home so far this season, have made it a mission this year to be exceptionally tough to play against at DC's Verizon Center.

So far this regular season the teams have met twice and the Rangers are indeed 0-1-1 while the Capitals are 2-0-0. The Rangers managed to salvage a point from the Capitals in the 12/23 overtime loss. At the meeting prior to that, on November 8th at Verizon Center, the game was tightly contested until the Capitals' Alexander Semin put the game away with an empty net goal at 19:54 of the third period. Washington surged through the month of December and opened 2009 with a New Years day win over Tampa Bay. The Caps have now won five in a row and 10 of their last 11. The one blemish on that record was a particularly ugly 7-1 loss in Philadelphia on 12/20, that may have helped drive the Capitals to ensure they didn't make it 2 losses in a row the last time they face the Rangers.

That the Capitals continue to achieve the success they are attaining despite the continued number of injuries to impact players is perplexing to many around the league. Caps fans are just thankful that the fruits of a "multi-year" rebuilding program are becoming self evident and being reaped. On that front, only Mike Green, is a definite player in in tonight's roster compared to the players who missed the last "bout" with the Rangers. Green has generally enjoyed success against the Broadway Bangers and should be a real force tonight, as long as he "doesn't get too cute." However in more good news this morning from Tarik El-Bashir, it appears that both Alexander Semin and Donald Brashear will also return to tonight's line-up for the Caps. Semin's return means the Blueshirts will have to defend against scoring threats from four of the Caps top five goal scorers this season. However, Tomas Fleischmann, Sergei Federov, Tom Poti, John Erskine and Brian Pothier all remain sidelined. Jose Theodore will face the Rangers for the second time in less than two weeks tonight and will be looking for his fifth victory in a row. Theodore and the Caps had a rocky start on 12/23 then came back into the net for the second and third period and played just superbly. The confidence he gained/displayed during those 40 minutes have, at least so far, carried over to his play since then. Here's to hoping the first period against the Rangers on 12/23 was the last wake-up call the Capitals will need until after the 2009 playoffs are concluded.

Caps fans have to be hopeful that, the Rangers read and believe their own press releases and play accordingly. According to the Rangers press releases (linked to above), they are a defense first team and the Caps are "all about offense" and the offense is predominately Alexander Ovechkin. While there is no doubt Ovie IS the face of the new Capitals and its #1 superstar, the last game, in which the Capitals scored 7 times, all 7 goals were by different players. To be clear, the Rangers press release clearly meant no disrespect to the other Capitals, it was just very one-sided, perhaps justifiably, in its praise of Ovechkin. You can't really blame them, he is no doubt, one of the best, if not the best player in world right now; and he scored the tying goal that sent the 12/23 game into overtime. However, the Capitals offense is clearly as well distributed or better than the Rangers when you look at their goal scoring statistics to date. The Caps currently have 7 skaters with 8 or more goals (on pace for 20+ goal seasons) while the Rangers only have 5 skaters with similar productivity: Aaron Voros, Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, Nickolai Zherdev, and Markus Naslund, though you have to believe that Scott Gomez, who only has 7 goals so far this season will also find a way to 20+ goals before the last regular season game is played in April as well.

In case you're wondering who to be rooting for tonight in other NHL games that matter to the Eastern Conference Capitals, its: Buffalo over Boston, Florida over Pittsburgh, and the LA Kings over the Flyers. You'll notice that for the most part, Caps Fans probably shouldn't care about the outcome of either Ottawa vs. Toronto or Carolina vs. Atlanta other than that both games end in regulation, since freebie, extra points can only hurt a conference team who isn't involved in that particular game in the standings.

Here's to hoping the "third time is the charm" since this is the third time the Capitals have won five games in succession; a win tonight by the Caps would push that streak to six for the first time in the 2008-09 season. I'll be "Rockin the Red" here on the couch in Bristow, Tom and his son will be watching from our seats in Section 103.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!

Reflections on Last Night's Game and the Road Ahead for the Capitals (along with a little bit of a rant)

Well as usual The Peerless beat me to the punch with a great post on last night's game. It was everything, good and bad that he said it was here.

Before getting into the thoughts about the Caps perfromance last night, an item of note about Jamie Heward , this from Tarik El-Bashir's Blog: "Update: *Just got off the phone with Lightning PR director Jay Preble who said Jamie Heward has been released from Sibley Memorial Hospital with a concussion and is on his way back to Tampa Bay. He is expected to land in Florida this afternoon." That seems indeed good news, especially for this blogger and the other 18,000+ hushed fans at Verizon Center last evening.

Now back to the regularly inteded blog. It has indeed become a season where "good is not good enough," for as last night was a clear two point night, in that the Capitals never trailed and a 2 point win wasn't in doubt for more than 2 or 3 minutes at a time, the Capitals have now transcended to a much higher level of hockey than they ever achieved or many, including this writer, ever thought during the so called rebuilding years. This year the Caps are generally playing excellent hockey, so much so, that during those periods of a game when they are not, you notice it, even, perhaps especially, when the opposing team is also not playing great hockey. Last night was one of those games. The Caps won by three goals, "going away" and never trailed, but because they have now conditioned us to expect great hockey, you notice when they don't play at or near their potential. For example, the whole team seemed pretty flat the last half of the second period, sure it's hard to stay driven and "into it" when you are up by such a margin and it seems like you can't loose, but guess what, it's the NHL and you can - didn't you watch the Winter Classic? And while it was great to see Sean Collins get his first NHL goal and on the score sheet go +/- even, if you watched the game you noticed that his miscues resulted in two Lightning goals. That's not to say the 25 year old rookie is the first,nor will he be the last, NHL caliber defenseman to have his pockets picked by Martin Saint Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. I bring it up to highlight the level of play, we all have come to expect from the Capitals, every game, regardless of who is or is not in a particular game's lineup. It's really pointless whether or not, we the fans, now expect the Caps to play near perfect hockey and strive for perfection every night. The teams setting the standard in the NHL are the ones driving the Capitals to do so; the Caps have a goal this year, it's the goal every professional sports team should have. At the risk of superstition, I'll say it - to win the Stanley Cup Championship. You have to know and believe it is the same goal shared by 29 other teams and the same goal that at least ten other NHL teams are thoroughly convinced is possible.

Who is setting the bar now, well here's the top 10 teams in the NHL based on the results of the last 10 games:

1) Boston Bruins/10-0-0 (1.000 hockey)

2) Washington Capitals/9-1-0 (0.900 hockey)

3) Chicago Black Hawks/8-2-0 (0.800 hockey

4) San Jose Sharks/6-1-3 (0.750 hockey)

5) Calgary Flames/6-1-3 (0.750 hockey)

6) Detroit Red Wings/6-3-1 (0.650 hockey)

7) Montreal Canadeans/6-3-1 (0.650 hockey)

8) Philadelphia Flyers/6-3-1 (0.650 hockey)

9) Columbus Blue Jackets/6-3-1 (0.650 hockey)

10) Dallas Stars/6-3-1 (0.650 hockey).

So if you think you've been watching some of the best hockey played in the NHL of late, you're probably correct.

A final "heart warmer" for other Caps fans who felt unjustly spurned and used in June when the Blackhawks picked up Christobel Huet. From James Mirtle's blog on the Winter Classic comes this subtle reference (my emphasis added): "The best part if you're a new Blackhawks fan? While the team (Blackhawks) was outplayed in this one, mostly in goal, this is the tip of the iceberg for this group, and there's a very real possibility they'll be a contender over the next few years." So as I told the two overly smug Red Wings fans (who wears Redwings sweaters to a Caps - Lightning game anyway - do they think that is "Rockin' the Red"?) that were in section 103 with wingman and I, I'm happy with Theodore. Of course the guy wearing the Yzerman Jersey thinks that the other goalie (yes he plays goal so he's an expert) in his beer league has "better form," his words I kid you not, than Theodore.

Now I ask your indulgence and for you to please excuse the following rant, however one of the most disturbing things for me of late is to continue to hear folks "worry" about Jose Theodore and/or continue to second guess the Capitals goaltending situation. I feel it does three egregious things: i) trivializes the great team (including the goaltenders) effort that has resulted in a great start to the season, ii) fails to take into account that the current situation was not one of first choice for the Caps organization, and iii) really fails to recognize that goaltending hasn't been too much of an issue despite a game of total musical chairs on the blueline due to injuries for over the past 7 weeks. First and foremost, let's review the bidding on the Capitals choices re: netminder at the end of last season and how things look after three months of the 2008-2009 season are in the bag.

As of yesterday afternoon had the Caps gone for a 3 year/$5.5+M deal they MIGHT have had Christobel Huet in the net as their number 1 goaltender this season; Huet's numbers with the Blackhawks to date are as follow. The 33 year old French-Canadian netminder is 9-6-3 with 1 shutout, a GAA of 2.55 (17th in the league) and a save percentage of 0.910 (tied for 21st) in 18 games played. These numbers (save percentage and GAA) are slightly below his career NHL regular season numbers of 0.918 and 2.44 in 201 games played. Last regular season he played a total of 52 regular season games for the Caps and Canadeans, the most he's ever played since entering the league. He's been in the playoffs twice (2006 and 2008) in both instances he took his team into the second round but not beyond; his career playoff save percentage matches his regular season numbers of 0.918. In brief, he was and is a solid NHL netminder but NOT someone you'd want to overspend on nor one you could likely build a team around for the long haul from a proven talent perspective. Ask yourself this. Had the Capitals spent an extra million this season for Huet and also gone for the extra million for next season, AND agreed to give him a contract one year longer than they gave Jose Theodore, do you think their record would be better than it's current 25-11-3? Would they be on par with Boston's pace? As data for making your choice of answers A or B consider this - Of the Capitals 11 losses only 3 are by one goal and only 2 are by two goals, the remaining 6 are by 3 or more goals. So even if you feel Huet would have been the difference in a game you could only reasonably feel he would have won a maximum of 8 more games than Johnson and Theodore, if he were superhuman - being reasonable and assuming he is an almost mere mortal, NHL starting goaltender as his current rankings would suggest call it 4 games and give the Caps 8 more points maximum and he still isn't the silver bullet to overtake the freight trains that are Boston and San Jose in the standings.

So how does the Theodore pickup look right now anyway? The thirty two year old French-Canadian netminder is: 12-6-1, with 1 shutout, a GAA of 3.08 (36th) and a save percentage of 0.889 (39th) in 22 games played so far this season. Okay, he got off to a very rocky start and he does need to show consistency. The solid netminding of his last four games have been well chronicled elsewhere, but what hasn't been discussed much is the comparison of potential and the value of having been there before. As well as the value of wanting to be here versus the apparent fact that Huet realy didn't care that much where he played his next three seasons after last year. Theodore's career regular season numbers are a save percentage of 0.908 and a GAA of 2.68 in 466 games; he has played over 60 games in two seasons and over 50 in three others, his numbers are better in seasons where he has played over 50 games. In 47 career playoff games his GAA is 2.76 and his save percentage is 0.914. He's been through the second round of the playoffs and into the third before and his career statistics indicate two things: a) he gets better as the season goes on and b) even more importantly he clearly elevates his game come playoff time. All for $1M less a season than Huet and for a contract term the Capitals wanted for their goaltender. So yes i) rocky start, ii) improved play of late, iii) so far three more wins in four more starts than Huet, and iv) wants to be here and seems committed to the system - so far no prima donna stuff over the goaltender rotation or play when your hot stuff though to be fair this seems to be the case for Huet and Khabibuhlen in Chicago as well, and v) the Capitals have $1M more of Cap space then they would have had.

How about Brent Johnson, how's that guy look? Well, funny you should ask, he looks pretty good compared to both these guys too. So far this season the thirty one year old American netminder is: 11-5-2, with no shutouts, a GAA of 2.61 (22nd) and a save percentage of 0.913 (15th) in 19 games played. All for more than $4.6M less than Huet and $3.6M less than Theodore. Johnson, like Theodore has been a little inconsistent, and of late hampered by a nagging hip injury but he has been one of several feel good stories for the Capitals. His career numbers also compare favorably with Huet's both in tenure and results. Over a ten NHL season career that started in Saint Louis in the 1998-1999, "Johnnie" is 110-93-13-12 with a GAA of 2.62 and a save percentage of 0.903 in 245 regular season games; his career playoff numbers are 5-6 with a GAA of 1.84 and a save percentage of 0.931 in 12 playoff starts he took the Blues through the first round and into the second round of the 2001 - 2002 season. The only "knock" of sorts against Johnson is he is basically untested over the long haul as a workhorse goaltender, the only season he's played more than 50 games was the 2001-2--2 season with Saint Louis. He is a consummate team player and a solid citizen on the ice, in the dressing room and in the community. The biggest challenge for the Caps with Johnson at the end of this season will be affording him if he keeps his level of play up to where it has been so far this year. His play so far has enabled the Capitals to have a 1A/1B situation in goal and it seems that both he and Theodore get along as well as he and Kolzig did in the past. Another plus for Caps fans to note about "Johnnie" is that while like Huet he has limited (less than 15 games) playoff experience, like Theodore, he clearly elevates his game in the playoffs. All for a bargain basement price of less than $900K against the salary cap this season.

Next up the blueshirts, the New York Rangers, at Verizon Center on Saturday evening, I'll be watching from the couch as Tom has the tickets to this game since growing up he was a Ranger fan. I don't know who he'll be rooting for but I'll be hoping the Caps make it six in a row and find themselves at six points ahead of the Rangers at the end of the evening's contest.

LETS GO CAPS !!!!!

Caps 7, Bolts 4 - Quick Recap

It was another two point night at Verizon Center for the Washington Capitals, who started 2009 the same way they ended 2008 - on winning notes. Once again the atmosphere at Verizon Center was electric and there was a sellout crowd present to "Rock the Red." The Caps raced out to a 3-0 lead through the end of the first period before the Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier got the Bolts on the scoreboard at 00:58 of the second period, by the end of the second period the Lightning had pulled to within one and the period ended with the score Caps 4, Lightning 3. That was as close as the Lightning would get though - one goal and the game ended with a final score of Caps 7, Lightning 4. The Caps scoring was spread around and all seven goals were scored by different players. The Lighting on the other hand got two goals from Vincent Lecavalier and a goal each from Ryan Malone and Mark Recchi. The Capitals goals were scored by: 1) Sean Collins (his first NHL goal,) 2) Dave Steckel, 3) Mike Green, 4) Matt Bradley, 5) Boyd Gordon (the Game Winner,) 6) Chris Clark (his first of the season) and 7) Alexander Ovechkin. Capitals Captain, Chris Clark had another good game, missing a a"Gordie Howe Hat Trick" by an assist but finishing the evening with 11:30 TOI on 16 shifts 3 shots, a goal, 1 hit, 2 blocked shots and +1. Alexander Ovechkin had an excellent night 1 goal, 2 assists, 4 shots, 4 attempts blocked, 1 miss, 3 hits, and 1 faceoff won (0 faceoffs lost). Boyd Gordon had an exceptional night, Gordo went 7 for 12 (58%) in the faceoff circle, had a goal and an assist on the night and was +/- +2 on the night. Matt Bradley also had a super night. "Brads: had a goal, and assist, 2 hits, went 1 of 2 in the faceoff circle and was +3 on the night.

One other quick note, former Capital Jamie Heward was taken off the ice on a stretcher after being knocked unconscious by a clean hit from Alexander Ovechkin in the third period last night. Per the post game recap on the Caps website: "According to postgame reports, Heward has a concussion and he will stay overnight at Sibley Memorial Hospital for observation. "He was moving his arms," said Lightning coach Rick Tocchet. "He was unconscious for about a minute and a half. So we made sure that we called his wife. I don't know for sure, but it seems that it's hopefully positive. We'll keep him overnight."

Happy New Year - A Look Ahead To Tonight's Caps-Bolts Game

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Last night's result of note: IIHF Juniors - Canada 5, United States 4.


In case you didn't watch last night's IIHF showdown of sorts, it was an awesome game. The US zoomed out to a 3-0 lead before Canada came back and tied it up. The second period ended with Canada up 5-4; the third period was scoreless. Lot's of great play from folks on both teams. Of greatest notes relative to the players though for folks following the NHL prospects in general and Caps fans in particular were the following two items. Canada's John Tavares showed everyone watching why he should indeed be the #1 NHL draft pick in 2009 and Stefan Della Rovere showed Caps fans why he may turn up as being the best bargain in the 2008 NHL draft.


Today's NHL Games:


- This afternoon, the Winter Classic in Chicago: Blackhawks vs. Red Wings @ Wrigley Field
- Tonight: Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning @ Verizon Center
- Tonight: Pittsburgh vs. Boston @ Boston
- Tonight: Vancouver vs. Nashville @ Nashville.

The one folks reading this blog likely care most about is Caps vs. Lightning so that's the one that gets previewed. Besides, despite some thoughts to the contrary it's probably too early to be rooting for Pittsburgh over Boston and the only way to be rooting for either Chicago or Detroit would be if there was a way a game could conclude and neither team got a point. In the final game, you have to be for Nashville because, hey we want them to do well, and who needs/wants a team to move anyway? Maybe if Nashville started to get a home record like the Caps, Sharks or Boston have this season their attendance would improve. Now onto the key thoughts and items about tonight's game at "the Phone Booth."


First despite Jose Theodore winning his last four in a row, Brent Johnson will apparently start tonight. This is probably a good move by Coach Boudreau since as he told Tarik and others after this morning's skate: " Looking around the league this year you need both goaltenders....Very few teams have been able to run with one at all times so we have to keep our guys sharp." While Johnson and Theodore are both pretty healthy and playing well it makes sense to play them both, giving Johnson a little more rest over the next couple of weeks to allow his hip a little extra rest to further mend.


Virtually all the Caps skated at least a little today, except Sergei Federov. That said it appears the only change to the lineup of skaters from the team on the ice in Buffalo on Tuesday is that Karl Alzner will be back in the line-up and Tyler Sloan is probably headed back to Hershey.

Donald Brashear will be a game time decision apparently and Alexander Giroux and Chris Bourque are still here in DC and will apparently dress and take warm-ups as well. Odds makers are guessing Brashear won't play tonight but will likely return for Saturday's Rangers game and other optimists are also hoping that Alexander Semin will return to the lineup sometime next week, likely either for the January 6th home game against the Flyers or the games on Friday and Saturday against Columbus and Montreal.


Tom Poti, Brian Pothier and John Erskine all skated today, but there hasn't been any word or speculation otherwise on any timetables for their of Sergei Federov's return. The way the team is playing this all makes sense, the important thing is for the team to keep looking ahead and re-integrating the players into the "normal" lineup on a timetable that allows them to be healthy and set for a run to and through the playoffs after the All-Star Game on January 25th in Montreal.


As for tonight's opponents, Tampa Bay is 3-0-1 since the Christmas break. Their last game ended as a 2-1 shootout loss to a visiting Montreal Canadean team at Saint Pete Times Forum on Tuesday night in front of a sellout crowd. In addition to going 3-0-1 since Christmas, the Bolts beat the Penguins 3-0 in Pittsburgh on December 23rd and are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. Tonight's game is the second of six meetings between the two Southeast Division foes this regular season. The last time the two teams met was Monday, November 10th at Verizon Center; the Caps won that contest 4-2. That game was long-time Capitals netminder Olie Kolzig's first return to play against the team that drafted him into the NHL in 1989. The likely starting goaltender for the Bolts tonight will be Mike Smith, who has a 2.00 GAA in his last four games in regulation, including the shutout against Pittsburgh. Smith, a 26 year old in his third NHL season, will be playing in his 87th NHL games tonight, assuming he gets the nod, his career numbers are 35-36-0-11 with a save percentage of 0.912 and a GAA of 2.44. So far this season he's 8-12-0-9 with a GAA of 2.42 and a save percentage of 0.923.


Clearly both Smith and his Lightning Bolt teammates have raised their level of play since the two teams last met in November. Ryan Malone has 7 points (2 goals and 5 assists) in the last three games and the Bolts have scored a total of 12 goals while allowing only 9 goals against over the past 4 games. So since December 23rd the Lightning has scored an average of 3.00 goals/game while allowing and average of only 2.00 against. The Lightning players the Caps need to contain are primarily the two usual suspects plus a couple of guys: Martin Saint Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Mark Recchi, Ryan Malone and Steve Stamkos. The Lighting need to be weary of probably all four of the Capitals lines, assuming they come out and play the type of hockey they have shown themselves capable of throughout the month of December. However, this won't be an easy game for the Capitals, as if any game on any night in the NHL can be taken for granted. The Caps will need to come out focused and determined. Against a team like Tampa Bay, getting the first goal is probably a key item. With a roster that includes six former Caps, including two who have been playing very well of late - Matt Pettinger and Steve Eminger - as well as former Capitals Team Captain, Jeff Halpren, and being division rivals who have met eight times over each of the past two regular seasons, these two teams know each other well.


My former wingman and I will be back together and Rockin' the Red in Section 103. Hope you are too. I'm looking for the Capitals to make it five in a row and stop the Bolts point streak at four. Besides, doesn't the prospect of hopefully making this guy look silly (well maybe the right term is sillier) sound good to you?







LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!